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French Literature and Criticism

French Literature and Criticism is a research topic within Literature and Literary Theory. Science Explorer counts 7.5k research works in it since 1950. 8.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to French literature, culture, and intellectual history. It includes discussions on autobiography, psychoanalysis, colonial history, feminism, surrealism, ethnography, philosophy, and gender studies within the context of French literature and culture. The papers explore various literary works, historical events, and cultural phenomena in France, offering diverse perspectives on the intersection of literature with psychology, sociology, and history.

  • French Literature
  • Cultural Studies
  • Autobiography
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Colonial History
  • Feminism
  • Surrealism
  • Ethnography
  • Philosophy
  • Gender Studies
Research works
7.5k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
611
per year above
Top-10% rate
8.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+16%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead French Literature and Criticism research?

By volume, France and the United States publish the most (342 and 168 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 France 342 works
  2. 2 United States 168 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 111 works
  4. 4 Canada 50 works
  5. 5 Germany 48 works
  6. 6 Italy 32 works
  7. 7 Brazil 30 works
  8. 8 Poland 25 works
  9. 9 Russia 25 works
  10. 10 Spain 22 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

France: 40.1%United States: 19.6%United Kingdom: 13.0%Canada: 5.9%6 others listed: 21.3%40%largest
France342 · 40.1%United States168 · 19.6%United Kingdom111 · 13.0%Canada50 · 5.9%6 others listed182 · 21.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead French Literature and Criticism research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Oxford publishes the most French Literature and Criticism research, followed by Université Sorbonne Nouvelle and Sorbonne Université.

Who are the leading researchers in French Literature and Criticism?

The most-cited researchers publishing on French Literature and Criticism include Peter Brooks and Peter Dayan.

  1. 1 Peter Brooks Australia 2.2k citations
  2. 2 Peter Dayan United Kingdom 832 citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is French Literature and Criticism research done?

The largest centres of French Literature and Criticism research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), Lyon (France), London (United Kingdom) and Toulouse (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Lyon.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Paris France 106 works
  2. 2 Lyon France 29 works
  3. 3 London United Kingdom 19 works
  4. 4 Toulouse France 18 works
  5. 5 Oxford United Kingdom 17 works
  6. 6 Nanterre France 13 works
  7. 7 New York United States 13 works
  8. 8 Strasbourg France 13 works
  9. 9 Moscow Russia 13 works
  10. 10 Toronto Canada 11 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. LyonFR · 29.1 works29×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in French Literature and Criticism than the world average.

See French Literature and Criticism on the map

Where is the best place to study French Literature and Criticism?

Among universities, judged by research, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, University of Oxford and Sorbonne Université score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%5%10%15%mean 6.76667%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Université Sorbonne Nouvelle: 14, 10.2%University of Oxford: 15, 8.7%Sorbonne Université: 12, 2.7%Durham University: 10, 4.8%Université Paris Nanterre: 12, 8.3%Université Bordeaux Montaigne: 9, 7.8%University of Toronto: 8, 12.1%Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès: 12, 2.7%Université Grenoble Alpes: 9, 3.6%Université Sorbonne …University of OxfordDurham UniversitySorbonne Université
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Université Sorbonne NouvelleFrance 75.210.2%110.7×14 +56.2%
2 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 73.58.7%11.7×15 -20.3%
3 Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 62.32.7%24.1×12 +126.7%
4 Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom 61.14.8%27.9×10 +132.0%
5 Université Paris NanterreFrance 58.98.3%55.7×12 +8.7%
6 Université Bordeaux MontaigneFrance 53.47.8%126.3×9 +90.5%
7 University of TorontoCanada 46.312.1%5.7×8 +65.9%
8 Université Toulouse - Jean JaurèsFrance 45.72.7%92.0×12 +37.2%
9 Université Grenoble AlpesFrance 40.63.6%27.5×9 -11.4%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is French Literature and Criticism research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 16% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2022. The fastest-growing topics are French Literature and Criticism.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.